Boxes
by ace1214
Summary: Elizabeth was in college, completely alone and missing her family. Henry was anything but that. One day they meet and Elizabeth was instantly intrigued by him. Does Henry notice? / My take on an origin story.
1. I need a family to drive me crazy

**A/N: Welcome to a new story! I have had this idea for quite a while and haven't been able to get it out of my head. _Boxes_ by the Goo Goo Dolls was my loose inspiration for this idea. Hope you enjoy! **

* * *

Elizabeth walked across the campus green with her head down and books held closely to her chest. Once again, she was close to tears after a phone call with her brother, Will. Even though calls were few and far between the two, they always ended in an argument. She knew better than to bring up the holidays or visiting each other but she just wanted _something_ to be normal in her life. Unfortunately, instead of cheery holidays and being surrounded by family Elizabeth was faced with being alone yet again.

She sighed before opening the door to the on-campus coffee shop and being welcomed by the smell of fresh pastries and endless coffee. It was a comforting feeling and right now she felt that she could use a little bit of comfort.

After getting her order of coffee and a bear claw, she surveyed the seating to look for an open table. _Bingo, _she thought, when she spotted one last table open in the back of the coffee shop near a window. It was her favorite spot in the place. Placing her things on the table, she set down and began studying for her quantitative analysis mid-term.

A short while later, Elizabeth jumps as she looks up to see a man approach table.

"What the hell? Can I help you?" she asks the strange man.

"Oh, um… I was hoping that you would let me sit here. All of the other tables are occupied, and I need to study."

Elizabeth looks around the coffee shop in observation before shrugging and replying, "sure, I guess."

The strange man smiled widely as he set his books out on the table. "Thanks. I really didn't want to walk all the way across campus to go to the library and my roommate has a friend over," he tried to explain. "By the way, I'm Henry."

"Elizabeth," she replied shortly as she tried to get back to studying.

They sat in silence as they both dove into their studies. Elizabeth snuck glances at Henry while they were studying only when she was sure that he was not paying attention. Binomial distribution was not nearly as interesting to Elizabeth in this moment as the man sitting before her.

After an hour or so, Elizabeth gave up on the chapter she was reviewing and decided to attempt to get to know this man, "So, what are you studying?"

Henry was so absorbed in the text that it took him a moment to realize that Elizabeth was talking to him. He looked up at her in surprise, "Theology and ethics," he paused as he glanced at her textbook, "math? That's…interesting."

She smirked at him, "you can say boring, you know. That's what most people say but it doesn't bother me. Math makes sense to me. I like it." She shrugged before continuing, "Theology? So, you must be a saint guy then?"

"Something like that," Henry replied with a small laugh. "Are you a senior?"

"Nope. I'm a freshman."

"Oh. Okay." Henry replied while looking at little shocked that she was so young. She seemed so mature which made him assume that she was his age. He glanced down at his watch and realized that he was going to be late for ROTC if he didn't hurry. He started closing his books and cramming all of his belongings into his backpack.

"Shit, I've got to go. I've got training in 15 minutes and I still have to go back to my apartment to change. Thanks for letting me crash your table, Elizabeth. See you later. " He gave her a quick smile as he stood up, grabbed his drink, and made a beeline to the door.

Henry left so quickly that she didn't have time to react. Elizabeth could tell that her age surprised him, but she hoped that it wasn't what made him leave so quickly. She could tell that he was someone she would want to get to know more. He seemed intriguing, and if she could admit it to herself, he was really hot.

"See you around Henry," she said as she watched him run across campus while she sat at the table, alone again.


	2. Call me out when I'm low and lazy

A few days later, mid-terms were over and Elizabeth finally felt like she could breathe a little.

As she relaxed on her bed with a book, she thought back over the first few months of college. She was still trying to find her footing on the unfamiliar campus. There were so many clubs and events happening that it overwhelmed the young freshman. She loved being at UVA, but the loneliness she felt was a constant reminder of what she no longer had. Although, she had met many people that she felt she could be friends with. A particular brunette young man came to mind.

Her roommate, Becky, while nice, was quite a partier. She always seemed to be at some party; that's where she was on this Friday night. Becky had mentioned before leaving the dorm that she would be at party on fraternity row. Elizabeth had no intention of going when Becky invited her but now as she sat alone in her dorm, she reconsidered. _I'm never going to make friends if I don't go,_ she thought.

Making the decision to at least check the party out, Elizabeth got up from her bed and started getting ready. She was already in her favorite jeans and a Rolling Stones t-shirt, so she threw on boots, a hunter green jacket, and quickly applied little bit of make-up.

Her dorm was fairly close to the fraternity houses which meant Elizabeth made the walk in no time at all. The party was already in full swing, with a music blaring and teenagers with solo cups of alcohol in every corner of the house. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and made her way in the house, taking it all in. She was officially at her first college party. She didn't see any of the people that she knew so she decided to get a drink.

* * *

Henry had already been at this party for over an hour, accompanied by his ROTC buddies and a few girls they were interested in. He was surrounded by his friends as they talked about the brutal training they had done the previous summer. Truthfully, Henry thought it wasn't nearly as bad as his friends made it sound but they always liked to talk it up at parties.

He was finishing his second beer when he saw her walk into the room that was already incredibly crowded. He kept glancing towards her as she cradled her drink and made her way through the crowd to a group of girls that were in a tight circle talking and laughing. When Elizabeth joined them, one of the girls excitedly hugged her and brought her into the conversation.

An arm wrapping around his waist brought him back to the group conversation surrounding him and he looked away from Elizabeth and smiled down at the woman that currently had her arms wrapped around him. They had been casually seeing each other since the beginning of the semester and she was the reason he was at the party.

"Hey handsome, wanna get me another drink?" she tipsily asked him.

"Yeah, more beer?" He asked and she nodded, "I'll be right back Emily." He quickly kissed her as he took her cup in his free hand and made his way to the drinks. Emily was a junior English major that had been part of his friend group for the past three years. Truthfully, he hadn't paid much attention to her until he came back to UVA for his senior year.

He refilled their drinks and turned to make his way back to their group but stopped when he saw Elizabeth head outside alone. He glanced over at Emily and saw that she was busy talking to their friends so he decided to follow Elizabeth outside instead.

He pushed his way outside and saw her standing against the railing, mumbling to herself. He studied her for a moment before approaching her. "Hey, Elizabeth, right?"

Elizabeth glanced at over at him and couldn't stop the smile that appeared on her face. "Henry? Hi! What are you doing here? Wait, it's a party. Obviously that's what you're doing here. Hell, you're probably in this frat -"

Henry laughed a little before cutting her rambling short, "No, I'm definitely not in this fraternity, or any for that matter. I'm just here with friends."

"Oh. Right," she laughed, "sorry." She took a sip of her drink to make herself stop talking.

"Thanks again for letting me crash your table the other day. It was a huge help. How did you do on your first college midterms?" He asked, trying to make conversation.

"All As" she stated proudly, "what about you?"

"Same. So, why'd you come out here by yourself?"

"I - I just wanted some air. I'm not really used to this and my roommate and her friends wanted to do shots. It was … a lot inside." She shook her head slightly as she took another sip and looked anywhere but Henry.

"That was your roommate? She seems so, well, not like you." Henry said before he realized that he just admitted that he was watching her.

You were watching me?" She smirked and looked at him.

"No!" He blushed and looked down. "I just saw you come in the room and go to them."

"Uh huh. Okay, if you say so." Elizabeth joked. She moved to sit down on the stairs before looking back at him. "Join me?"

He nodded and sat down beside her on the stairs. Closely, she noticed. They started talking to each other, laughing and joking more than Elizabeth had in recent memory, only stopping momentarily when someone interrupted them as they left the party.

During their conversation, Elizabeth dug a pen out of her bag and wrote her dorm number on Henry's arm. "There, now you can call me sometime. Maybe we can study together again? Seems that it worked out well last time." She said as she smiled at him. "

"Yeah, definitely." Henry took the pen from her and wrote his number on her hand. "In case you ever need anything."

A big group suddenly came out of the house that caused the pair to look up. The group was all of Henry's friends, including Emily.

"Henry! There you are! You've been gone for _forever_!" She shouted and Henry could tell she was drunk. He looked down at his watch and was surprised to see that he had been talking to Elizabeth for over two hours. He glanced over at Elizabeth and stood up just as Emily put her arms around him and hungrily kissed him.

Elizabeth was shocked and she quickly got to her feet. _Of course he has a girlfriend_, she thought, _look at him._

Henry broke the kiss and pushed Emily away enough that forced her to stand upright again. He glanced over at his friends who were all well on their way to being wasted and knew that he had to make sure they got home. He turned to Elizabeth and momentarily thought he saw a look of hurt pass over her face but it was gone just as fast as it appeared.

"I've got to get them home, will you be okay?"

"Oh, yeah. Sure. I'll go find Becky and we can go home together." She quickly brushed it off as she went up the stairs like she was going to go inside.

Henry was struggling to keep Emily completely upright as he tried to focus on Elizabeth. He looked at her for a moment before nodding his head in acceptance, "Great, thanks. I'll see you around?"

"Yeah, of course!" She said as she tried to smile at him.

"Henry returned her smile before turning around and made his way back to the dorms with his friends in tow.

Elizabeth watched them walk away. Then she glanced back inside the house before turning to head back to her dorm.


	3. It won't be perfect, but we'll be fine

**A/N: None of my ideas translated well into this chapter so it was harder to write than I anticipated. Add in a final and two mid-terms and it's been a hectic week. I do have a full plan for this story, I promise! I hope you enjoy! **

Elizabeth walked back to her dorm alone as she thought about her night. The party was not her thing, but she had to admit that she did have fun. The few hours she spent talking to Henry were the best part of her evening. She hadn't talked to someone so easily in recent memory, aside from her friend Yousif when they attended Houghton Hall. But tonight, talking with Henry felt different to her for some reason she didn't quite understand.

Once she made it to her dorm, she grabbed her things for a shower and went to leave the room before pausing. She remembered Henry's number on her hand so she grabbed a pen and paper from her desk and quickly wrote it down. Elizabeth quickly went to the shower, climbed back in bed, and tried to go to sleep.

* * *

Henry only had Emily left after getting the rest of their friends back to their dorm. Thankfully, all of his ROTC friends lived in the same building so it wasn't terribly hard.

"Your room tonight? Your roommate is still out, right?" Emily asked Henry as they walked across the green holding hands.

"Actually, I have to get up early tomorrow. Another night?" Henry asked hesitantly. Truthfully he wasn't so sure about Emily right now, especially with as drunk as she was tonight.

Emily stopped and turned to face Henry and ran her hand over his chest. "Come on, Henry." She tried to kiss him but he grabbed her hand and stepped back just out of reach.

"Emily, no. Not tonight. I'll make sure you get to your dorm but I'm going back to mine tonight."  
She huffed and started walking towards her building. He put his hands in his pockets, through his head back, and let out a sigh. This night was _not_ going the way that he planned.

Henry stayed a few feet behind Emily the rest of the way to her dorm as he could tell she was angry that he turned her down. When they made it to the door, Emily again turned to Henry as if she were going to invite him up.

"Goodnight Emily," Henry stated, interrupting Emily before she could begin. She stared at him for a moment before scanning her ID and going inside the building without speaking. Henry just shook his head and started his walk home.

* * *

That Sunday, Elizabeth was walking back to her dorm after spending the morning at the library doing research. As she walked across campus, she noticed that ROTC was finishing up their morning training. She smiled as she realized Henry had spotted her and was jogging over to her.

"Hi Elizabeth," Henry said as he came to a stop in front of her. He was in an ROTC shirt that was currently clinging to all the right places and gym shorts. "Heading to the library?"

"Actually, I just left. I wanted to get finished while everyone else was still sleeping off last night. I am just on my way to get lunch." She replied with a small smile. She glanced at the muscles that his shirt showed off without making it obvious. Unbeknownst to her, Henry noticed and smirked to himself.

"How does pizza sound? We could go together?"

"Pizza sounds great." Elizabeth replied to his invitation.

"Good. I want to shower so I can meet you at your dorm in twenty minutes?"

"Twenty minutes it is."

"See you then, Elizabeth." Henry winked at her and then jogged back to grab his bag and head to his room.

Twenty minutes later, Elizabeth was standing outside her building when she saw Henry walk up to her.

"You ready?" Henry asked her. Elizabeth sensed a little bit of nervousness from him, which she thought was odd but brushed it off.

"Yup. Let's go. I accidentally skipped breakfast so I'm starving."

"Accidentally?" he asked confused as they walked to his car.

Elizabeth laughed, "Yeah. I had breakfast in my room but I forgot to grab it when I left for the library and got sidetracked while I was there, so I didn't even think about it. It happens a lot actually."

"I don't think I've ever forgotten to eat."

"Eh, it only happens when I get distracted by something important. I like food too much otherwise."

Henry laughed as they reached the passenger side of his car. He opened the door for her and once she got in, he closed it and went to the driver side to get in.

"So, there's this great pizza place about ten minutes from campus. Is that okay?" He asked as he backed out of his parking spot and made their way off campus.

"Yeah, that sounds great. I haven't gone off-campus much since I don't have a car here." Elizabeth replied, excited to explore more of the area surrounding UVA.

"Well, if you ever want to escape, I have the means." Henry said as he drove down the road. He glanced quickly at Elizabeth to see her smiling at him.

She nodded, "I'll keep that in mind."

Before long, they had arrived at the restaurant and gotten their slices of pizza before sitting at a table.

"So, Henry. Your girlfriend doesn't mind you taking another girl out for lunch?" Elizabeth decided to just throw it out there while they were eating. The girl he kissed the night before at the party had been on her mind since she first saw it.

Henry coughed a bit in surprise at her question. "Girlfriend?"

"Uh, the girl you took home last night? Emily, was it?" She looked skeptically at him.

"Oh, Emily. She's –she isn't my girlfriend." Henry knew that sounded ridiculous as soon as he said it. He looked up at Elizabeth to see her blatantly side eye him as she took a bit of her pizza.

"Right, if you say so. "

Henry sighed as he tried to figure out what he wanted to tell Elizabeth. They hadn't known each other very long but he knew that he enjoyed being around her and was quickly considering her a friend. "Well, yes, we have been –involved, I guess, for a few weeks. But we aren't dating or anything, we're friends. You know how I'm in ROTC?" Elizabeth nodded as she waited for him to elaborate. "Well, after graduation next summer I'm moving to Florida for flight school for the Marines. Then after that I'll probably be deployed or move, well, anywhere. With everything looming I never really wanted to start a relationship. She's got an internship in London so she doesn't either." Henry paused as he ran his hand through his hair. "That sounds kind of awful when I say it out loud."

"No, no… I get it." Elizabeth replied, surprised that Henry told her all of that. To her, he didn't seem like the friends with benefits kind of guy but then again she didn't really know him all that well yet. She knew it wasn't really her business, so she decided to move on to another topic. "So why did you join the Marines if you're studying ethics and religion?"

"Honestly? To get out of Pittsburgh. My dad is a union guy and wanted me to be the same, but I wanted to get out and the only way I can afford to go to UVA is with the ROTC scholarship that I have. My dad still hates that I'm here but I _needed_ to get away from Pittsburgh to do what I wanted for once." Henry explained with a shrug.

"That I get. I couldn't wait to move to UVA." Elizabeth wasn't ready to talk to Henry, or anyone, about her parents but she could relate to needing to do what she wanted to do despite objections. Henry didn't ask her to elaborate and for that she was grateful.

The pair finished eating their lunch and made their way back to campus, talking the entire time. As he watched Elizabeth walk back to her building, he sat in his car thinking his current situation. Henry enjoyed the conversation that he could have with Elizabeth, it was unlike what he and Emily talked about when they were together. He and Emily have been having fun but he knew that he should end it, whatever _it_ was.

Once he saw Elizabeth reach her building, he got out of his car and made his way to the opposite building.


End file.
